THE
BRIDGE
Page One

Hanuman
returned to Rama and told him of the state of Sita at Ashok Vatika.

Now
that Rama’s army knew the whereabouts of Sita, it was essential to get to her.

But
how was this tremendous army to get across the mighty ocean.

Rama
wanted to pray to the ocean to give them way, whereas Lakshmana wanted to attack
it with bow and arrow.

It
has been explained earlier that the ocean is symbolic of the mind and its
desires and attachments.

During
a spiritual journey one’s biggest obstacle is the mind with its desires and
attachments.

Some
seekers claim that the best way to control one’s desire and attachments is
that of penance. These are hardships imposed upon the body, to bring the mind
under control.

Some
claim that a better way is to make the mind co-operate with the spirit by means
of understanding and compassion of the intellect.

Lakshmana’s
way of dealing with the ocean seem­ed to be the drastic one, whereas Rama
preferred to try to persuade the ocean to co-operate and allow the army to cross
over to get to Lanka.

Rama
prayed to the ocean, but the ocean did not pay much heed to the prayer.

Rama then decided to attack the
ocean. The ocean realising its folly decided to give in to Rama’s wishes.

Rama and his army decided to
build a mighty bridge to get to Lanka.

The latter part is also
symbolic. When the mind refuses to come under control by persuasion then one
must employ stricter measures.

When the mind repents and
decides to co-operate then one chalks out a spiritual path to reach one’s
spiritual destination.

How were they to build the
bridge was the question? Stones were sinking into the sea.

It was with the help of the two
monkeys Nala and Neela that they were able to achieve the almost impossible
task.

Hanuman wrote the alphabets “R”
and “A” of Rama on one stone and the “M” on another. The stones
automatically connected together to form the word Rama, and wonder of wonders,
floated on the ocean to form a bridge large enough to get to Lanka.

God is the hand behind which our
hand moves. If we are able to give God the credit for our victories, in other
words, if we write God’s name on our actions, we become unburdened of the ego
that is weighing us down.

The above is the symbolism of
the stones becom­ing lighter and floating as Rama’s name was written on them.

It
could also be explained thus.

ANGADA

The
great army of Rama finally crossed the bridge and arrived In Lanka.

Rama
sent Angada, the son of Bali, to Ravana’s court to give one final chance to
Ravana to return Sita and avoid a confrontation.

How
often God sends messengers to make us come to our senses as we walk on the path
of life.

Sometimes,
these messages may be in the form of an accident or a sage’s wise words that
remind us of the insecurity of life. It is never too late to turn a new leaf.